


Last Known Survivor

by troisroyaumes



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Community: basketballpoetsociety, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2018-01-01 03:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troisroyaumes/pseuds/troisroyaumes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five ficlets about Kagami Taiga.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mentorship

**Author's Note:**

> All written for [basketballpoetsociety](http://basketballpoetsociety.tumblr.com)'s [Character Battle](http://basketballpoetsociety.tumblr.com/post/63239814976/challenge-no-41-character-battle-to-celebrate) challenge.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For [graychalk](http://graychalk.tumblr.com)'s prompt: “Kagami teaching/giving basketball tips to the other freshmen”

"All right, third-years and second-years, you have a five-minute break for water before the next practice match," Coach bellowed at the top of her lungs.

Taiga, breathing heavily, wiped his face with the bottom of the shirt and caught the water bottle Kuroko tossed to him with one hand. He gulped down the water, as he turned and glanced over at the other court, where Coach had the first-years doing drills. Right now, half of them were dribbling back and forth between cones, while the other half were lined up to practice lay-ups.

There were a lot of first-years, even after Coach and the other senpai had done their best to scare them off. He saw one confidently approach the basket then pivot into a reverse lay-up. Show-off, Taiga thought and grinned. The kid’s technique wasn’t too bad, but he was too slow to get away with that in a real game.

The next kid in line fumbled the ball as he drove towards the basket. The ball bounced off the rim, forcing him to go chasing off after it. Some of the other first-years laughed or shook their heads, but the kid’s face didn’t change expression.

Taiga closed his water bottle and walked over to the other end of the gym. He passed by the kid, who had picked up his ball and was trying to dribble it back to the end of the line.

"Hey, the trick is to aim for the center of the backboard. And keep your hand under the ball when you shoot, at least until you learn to have more control over it."

The first-year stopped dribbling and looked at him with wide eyes. “Th-thanks, Kagami-senpai.”

"Good luck, kid," Taiga said and was about to head for the bleachers to pick up his towel, when he felt a yank on the edge of his shirt.

"One day, senpai, I’d like to play on the same court as you. In a real game!"

Taiga blinked, then smiled. “Keep practicing then, and maybe your wish will come true.”

When he got to the bleachers, Kuroko just held out his fist, with a little knowing smirk on his face.

"What?" Taiga said, scowling, though he returned the fist bump anyway.

"You’re a good senpai, Kagami-kun," was all Kuroko would say before Coach yelled at them to get back on the court for their next practice game.


	2. A Bitter Pill to Swallow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For [graychalk](http://graychalk.tumblr.com)'s prompt: “Kagami, the year before he entered Seirin”

Kagami joined the basketball team in middle school. The coach took one look at him making a dunk during a practice match and immediately put him on the starting line-up. He single-handedly scored most of the points that allowed the school to advance to quarterfinals in the regional tournament before he injured his foot and had to sit out.

There was nothing so agonizing as being confined to the bench while watching your teammates get crushed by their opponents. Kagami watched the other team’s maneuvers with a critical eye. They weren’t even that good, he thought rather indignantly.

Afterwards, Kagami’s teammates slapped him on the back and said philosophically, “We advanced further than we expected! We would never have gotten this far without you, Kagami.”

The team went out to eat yakiniku to celebrate.

Afterwards, the coach announced that the practices would adjourn until the fall, after summer break. There were no plans for training camps or even informal games to fill the time until next year’s tournament.

After the wrenching frustration of playing and losing in disappointing games, it was simply the last straw. Kagami turned in his resignation the next day and headed to the street basketball courts after school instead.


	3. Once and Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A:tLA fusion AU. Credit goes to [half_sleeping](http://half_sleeping.tumblr.com) for first coming up with the idea of [fusing Kuroko no Basuke with Avatar](http://archiveofourown.org/series/29815), and [readerofasaph](http://sicariorum.tumblr.com) for noticing that [Kagami’s eyes in 234Q resemble Nijimura’s](http://sicariorum.tumblr.com/post/64263695525/shoot-kagami-does-look-really-nijimuraish-in-the).

”Don’t try to focus, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said for perhaps the fortieth time.

"The more I try not to focus, the harder it gets!" Kagami retorted, but he resumed the meditation pose. He felt awkward, sitting on the ground of the Southern Air Temple, in front of all the statues of the previous Avatars, who seemed to be judging him with their blank stone eyes. But he didn’t have any better ideas for how to get in touch with his previous incarnations.

Kagami sighed and took a deep breath. His eyes crossed a little as he watched a dust mote float in front of his nose. He held back a sneeze. The floor was cold and hard; his right knee still ached a bit from the fall he took yesterday while practicing sparring with Hyuuga and Kiyoshi. All he could hear was the sound of his own breathing. His eyelids half-drooped as he waited…and waited…

He blinked. He was no longer sitting on the floor of the Air Temple, but standing in the middle of a forest, with trees so tall that barely any light trickled through the canopy of leaves overhead. In front of him, a young man was watching him curiously. He seemed to be about Kagami’s age.

"Are you…Avatar Nijimura?"

The man nodded. “And you’re Kagami. Took you long enough to come find me.”

"I knew you’d died young, but I thought you’d be older."

"Well, I thought my reincarnation would look a little handsomer," Nijimura said and flicked Kagami on the forehead. "What do you want?"

Kagami scowled. “I’m having trouble achieving Avatar State, and Kuroko thought I should ask my previous self for help.”

"Oh, the Avatar State." Nijimura shook his head. "There’s only really two ways to go about it. Either put yourself through deep emotional turmoil and trauma, or achieve great spiritual enlightenment."

"That’s not very helpful."

"Most of the Avatars ended up taking the first route, I’m afraid. Self included." Nijimura raised his hands and pressed his palms together. His eyes began to glow with a blinding white light.

Kagami copied the gesture, but of course, nothing happened.

"If it’s any consolation," Nijimura said, his voice growing deeper and full of echoes, "you already know how to do it. The knowledge is there, inside of you. When the time comes, you’ll figure it out by instinct."

With that, the forest abruptly faded, and Kagami jerked to find himself back in the Southern Air Temple, with a stiff neck and a sore back. Kuroko was leaning over him with the slight furrow to his brow that meant he was worried.

"Did it work? Did you see Avatar Nijimura?"

"Yeah," Kagami said, with a yawn. "He was completely useless."


	4. Cure for Insomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seirin team tries to help Kagami fall asleep the night before a game.

"Kagami," Riko said firmly, "this time, you must get a full night’s sleep."

Kagami scratched his head. “I make sure to go to bed early, but I just can’t fall asleep before a big game, no matter what I try.”

His teammates were eager to share their advice.

"Have you tried warm milk?" asked Furihata.

"I like chamomile tea," Fukuda chimed in.

Hyuuga recommended listening to enka songs, while Kiyoshi suggested R&B music.

Kuroko, with his usual straight face, offered to lend him some novels, “since you have no problem falling asleep in literature class, Kagami-kun.”

Riko told him to jog ten laps around his building before bed. “But not more than ten because you don’t want to put too much stress on your legs!”

Kawahara proposed melatonin pills. Koganei brought up meditation but was met with incredulous looks from everyone, including Kagami himself.

(Mitobe was silent as usual.)

On the morning of the Winter Cup finals, everyone was pleasantly surprised to find that Kagami’s eyes showed no signs of being red and bloodshot.

"Did you have a good night’s sleep, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, as they entered the locker room.

Kagami nodded, looking pleased with himself.

"What was the trick?"

"I ate five steaks and three bowls of fried rice," he said. "Worked like a charm."


	5. Chain of Command

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star Trek fusion AU.

"Don’t ever do that again, Taiga," Lieutenant Himuro said, slamming Kagami up against the wall. Kagami didn’t resist; he just gazed back steadily, his palms held up.

"You were injured."

"You ignored my direct orders, endangered the mission, violated Starfleet code—"

Kagami raised his voice in exasperation. “I couldn’t just let you die, Tatsuya.”

They stared at each other. Himuro’s arm was still braced against Kagami’s chest, right below where the ring on the chain around his neck rested, in clear defiance of the Starfleet dress code.

Himuro took a deep breath and stepped back. He straightened his uniform and raised a hand as if to brush dust off Kagami’s shoulder, then let it fall again. “Back to your post, Ensign.”

"Yes, Lieutenant," Kagami said and saluted.


End file.
